Improvement in harvesters



UNITED STATES Barenr @idrica W. S. STETSON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 29,632, (lated August 14, 186.0.

To all whom fit may concern A Beit known that I, W. S. STET'SON, of Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Harvesters 5 and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes them from all other things before known, and of the usual manner of making, modifying, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a perspective view ofthe machine. Fig. 2 is asection through hub h; Fig. 3, a view of the pawl and ratchet, showing the pawl out of gear; Figs. 4, 5, and 6, views of leversyl and h; Fig. 7, a side view ofthe platform Fig. 8, an enlarged view of thepawl, ratchet, and spring, showing the pawl held in and out of gear by the spring, Fig. 9, a section through pinion-shaft S, part of frame e, and part ot' frame R; Fig. l0, a side view ofthe platform attachment.

My invention consists in certain. improvements in harvesters, described and represented as follows For the purpose of connecting the platform with the carriage, so as to make it convenient to remove the platform whenever it is necessary, I construct it as follows et is the platform, with the polep attached, and under, on each side, are uprights or standards b, Fig. 7, which are made with two legs,

c c, to stride the carriage-axle d, or rather the hollow shaft a' of the vibrating frame e, which embraces the'car'riage-axle, upon which.shaft the standard b rests. through the legs c c, hold the standards down. 1n one of these standards are holes g to receive the stop-pin of spring-lever h 3 and at any time when required, by withdrawing this stoppinand the rodsff, the platform can be lifted from the carriage-frame.

For the purpose of raising and lowering the vibrating frame e so as to adj ust the cut of the knives, I have contrived the peculiar kind of lever j, more particularly shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. The lower part of this lever has a' double fork, one branch, fi, of which is pivoted to or near the rear end of frame e, and the two other branches, 7c, stride the shaft a. The spring-lever h is pivoted to this lever j at fn, and the pin p' of the spring-lever passes through an openin g, fr, in the lever j and enters The rods ff, passing the holes g in the standard b, so as to fix the leverj to any requin-d adjustment. As the whole frame-work of this harvester is iliade reversible, or so as' to change the knives from the rear to thefront of the carriage-wheels, this lever is also made reversible in the following manner: When the knives are changed from rear to front the lever j is removed by taking out the screw s, in order to change its position so as to bring it into the same relation to the frame as before. In changing the position of the lever]l the pin of lever h would be found in the wrong position'to enter the holes in the standard b. Therefore this lever is in itself reversible in relation to leverj. This is done by removing the pivot at n and chang ing the spring-lever h to the other side of lever j, the two positions being indicated by the black and red lines in Fig. 6.

Both ofthe carriage-wheels of this harvester are driving-wheels, and for the purpose of holding them in and out ot' gear I have contrived the following peculiar construction and arrangement of the pawl u, spring 0, and ratchet w. 'lo protect these parts from dust and injury', and at the same time to have them accessible, I place them within a rim, fr, projecting inward from the wheel-hubs. The spring o is attached tothe rim x, and the pawl -u is made with a notch, z, so that when the driver lifts the pawl from the ratchet the end of the spring catches in the notch and holds the pawl outof gear with the ratchet, and when the driver lifts the spring the pawl falls into gear with the ratchet.

For the purpose of giving the vibrating second frame, R, freedom of motion about the pinion-shaft S without interfering with its motions, and ot' preserving the bearings ot' this frame from wear, I support it upon sleeves S', which project inward from the rear end of the frame e, around the pinionshaft S, these sleeves being embraced by suitable collar-bearings, S2, on the end of frame It.

For the purpose ot' making the axis of vibration of the cutter-bar coincident with the axis of the crank-shaft T, which operates the cutters, I form a hub, h', on the rear end of the frame It, through the center of which hub the crank-shaft passes, and around which hub the cutter-bar turns upon the collar-bearing h2, the crank-pin a2 being upon the wheel a3, fastened to the end of the crank-shaft and y cutter-bar is lifted to be folded over upon the machine, there is no risk of breaking anything, for the knives will continue to work freely, even when the cutter-bar is laid up over the platform; and, again, if the cutter-bar should catch against a stump the heel of the bar rises up until the cutter-bar is brought almost upright in clearing the impediment, and all the while the cutters running freely without risk of breakage.

The pinion-shaft S and crank-shaft T are operated in the same manner as in the harvester for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the 5th day ot' April, 1859.

This machine being designed for use either as a reaper or mower, I providea strong brace of a peculiar character, which will give greatv iirm ness to thecutter-bar when used as a reaper. This brace b is fixed to one side of the rear end of frame It, and is grooved, as seen at b2, so as to admit a projection, b3, on the heel or shoe of the cutter-bar, and in any ordinary range of vibration while the cutters are in operation this brace is operative, and when the cutter-bar is to be moved beyond this range, or removed from the machine or changed from rear to front, this brace not being required, its construction admits of the most ready and convenient adaptation to its peculiar functions.

It will be seen from what has been described and represented ot' the several parts of this machine that the frame e and frame It, with all their connections and attachments, may be swung under the carriage-axle and their position reversed from the rear lto the front ofthe carriage-wheels. This change I make when the machine is used as a mower, and in order to bring the cutters into position to operate I remove the cutter-bar from its attachment to hub h by unscrewing the nut a4, and when the irame is brought forward of the carriagewheels it is again putinto place upon the hub and secured by the nut a, and the leverj being reversed, as before directed, the machine is in order for operating as a mower, with the cutters in front of the carriage-wheels. Ow-

ing to the peculiar construction and connection of the cutter-bar with the frame R, and its reversible character, it is important that it should be sustained by the caster-wheel fr at the junction ofthe cutter-bar with the shoe,as shown in Fig. l.

The use of a caster-wheel in this machine is of special importance, in view of its twofold application. Its advantage in both cases over a common supporting-wheel is the saving of friction in any deviation of the line of draft, but more especially in turning short corners; but in the case of the mowing-.machine a common supporting or carriage wheel at this point would be objectionable, particularly so for mowing lawns, as such a wheel would tea-r up and disiigure the turfat every turn of the machine, which is not the case with the casterwheel.

What I claim as my improvement is 1. Supporting the platform a over the axle d of the carriage-wheels and on the shaft a by means of the uprights bin such manner that by withdrawing the rodsj'f and the lcver-pin p the platform can be -removed at once from the bodyvof the machine.

2. Combining the reversible spring-lever h with adjusting-leverj, as set forth.

3. So constructing the leverj and combining it with the axle d and reversible lever h that said leverj may bev readily adapted to raise and lower the cutters. whether the cutters are operating in front or rear of the carriage-wheels, as set forth.

4. Arranging the pawl u and spring c and ratchet w all within an open cylindrical rim, fr, projecting inward from the hub of the drivingwhee], whereby these parts are not only protected from rising dust and dirt falling from the driving-wheels and disturbance from other sources, but are convenient to the driver to operate them directly with his hand without the aid of rods or levers.

5. I do not claim holding a pawl in and out of gear with a ratchet by means of one and the same spring; but I do claim the arrangement of the pawl u, having a notch, z, the spring v, and the ratchet w, so that said parts may operate and be operated as set forth.

6. I do not claim making the center of vibration of the cutter-bars coincident with the axis of the crank-shaft T, except when the same is done in combination with the vibrating second frame, It, substantially as herein set forth.

.7. Changing the position of the cutter-bar from rear to front of the carriage-wheels, substantially in the manner herein set forth.

NV. S. STETSON.

Witnesses: i

Unas. G. PAGE, WM. El. HARRlsoN. 

